Now it came about in the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, that certain of the responsible men of Israel came to get directions from the Lord and were seated before me.

Son of man, say to the responsible men of Israel, This is what the Lord has said: Have you come to get directions from me? By my life, says the Lord, you will get no directions from me.

And say to them, This is what the Lord has said: In the day when I took Israel for myself, when I made an oath to the seed of the family of Jacob, and I gave them knowledge of myself in the land of Egypt, saying to them with an oath, I am the Lord your God

And I said to them, Let every man among you put away the disgusting things to which his eyes are turned, and do not make yourselves unclean with the images of Egypt I am the Lord your God.

And I was acting for the honour of my name, so that it might not be made unclean before the eyes of the nations among whom they were, and before whose eyes I gave them knowledge of myself, by taking them out of the land of Egypt.

And I gave them my rules and made clear to them my orders, which, if a man keeps them, will be life to him.

But the children of Israel would not be controlled by me in the waste land: they were not guided by my rules, and they were turned away from my orders, which, if a man does them, will be life to him and they had no respect for my Sabbaths: then I said that I would let loose my passion on them in the waste land, and put an end to them.

And further, I gave my oath to them in the waste land, that I would not take them into the land which I had given them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the glory of all lands

But still my eye had pity on them and I kept them from destruction and did not put an end to them completely in the waste land.

I am the Lord your God be guided by my rules and keep my orders and do them:

But the children would not be controlled by me they were not guided by my rules, and they did not keep and do my orders, which, if a man does them, will be life to him and they had no respect for my Sabbaths: then I said I would let loose my passion on them to give full effect to my wrath against them in the waste land.

Further, I gave my oath to them in the waste land that I would send them wandering among the nations, driving them out among the countries

And further, I gave them rules which were not good and orders in which there was no life for them

For this cause, son of man, say to the children of Israel, This is what the Lord has said: In this your fathers have further put shame on my name by doing wrong against me.

Then I said to them, What is this high place where you go to no purpose? And it is named Bamah to this day.

And when you give your offerings, causing your sons to go through the fire, you make yourselves unclean with all your images to this day and will you come to me for directions, O children of Israel? By my life, says the Lord, you will get no direction from me.

By my life, says the Lord, truly, with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm and with burning wrath let loose, I will be King over you:

And I will take you into the waste land of the peoples, and there I will take up the cause with you face to face.

And I will make you go under the rod and will make you small in number:

As for you, O children of Israel, the Lord has said: Let every man completely put away his images and give ear to me: and let my holy name no longer be shamed by your offerings and your images.

I will take pleasure in you as in a sweet smell, when I take you out from the peoples and get you together from the countries where you have been sent in flight and I will make myself holy in you before the eyes of the nations.

And there, at the memory of your ways and of all the things you did to make yourselves unclean, you will have bitter hate for yourselves because of all the evil things you have done.

Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

And say to the woodland of the South, Give ear to the words of the Lord: this is what the Lord has said: See, I will have a fire lighted in you, for the destruction of every green tree in you and every dry tree: the flaming flame will not be put out, and all faces from the south to the north will be burned by it.

Then I said, Ah, Lord! they say of me, Is he not a maker of stories?

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

And say to the land of Israel, These are the words of the Lord: See, I am against you, and I will take my sword out of its cover, cutting off from you the upright and the evil.

And all flesh will see that I the Lord have taken my sword out of its cover: and it will never go back.

And when they say to you, Why are you making sounds of grief? then say, Because of the news, for it is coming: and every heart will become soft, and all hands will be feeble, and every spirit will be burning low, and all knees will be turned to water: see, it is coming and it will be done, says the Lord.

Son of man, say as a prophet, These are the words of the Lord: Say, A sword, a sword which has been made sharp and polished:

And I have given it to the polisher so that it may be taken in the hand: he has made the sword sharp, he has had it polished, to put it into the hand of him who gives death.

...

In order that hearts may become soft, and the number of those who are falling may be increased, I have sent death by the sword against all their doors: you are made like a flame, you are polished for death.

And I will put my hands together with a loud sound, and I will let my wrath have rest: I the Lord have said it.

And you, son of man, have two ways marked out, so that the sword of the king of Babylon may come let the two of them come out of one land: and let there be a pillar at the top of the road:

For the king of Babylon took his place at the parting of the ways, at the top of the two roads, to make use of secret arts: shaking the arrows this way and that, he put questions to the images of his gods, he took note of the inner parts of dead beasts.

And this answer given by secret arts will seem false to those who have given their oaths and have let them be broken: but he will keep the memory of evil-doing so that they may be taken.

And you, O evil one, wounded to death, O ruler of Israel, whose day has come in the time of the last punishment

I will let it be overturned, overturned, overturned: this will not be again till he comes whose right it is and I will give it to him.

Your vision is to no purpose, your use of secret arts gives a false answer, to put it on the necks of evil-doers who are wounded to death, whose day has come, in the time of the last punishment.

And I will let loose my burning passion on you, breathing out on you the fire of my wrath: and I will give you up into the hands of men like beasts, trained to destruction.

My loved ones, do not put your faith in every spirit, but put them to the test, to see if they are from God: because a great number of false prophets have gone out into the world.

And every spirit which does not say this is not from God: this is the spirit of Antichrist, of which you have had word and it is in the world even now.

They are of the world, so their talk is the world's talk, and the world gives ear to them.

My loved ones, let us have love for one another: because love is of God, and everyone who has love is a child of God and has knowledge of God.

And the love of God was made clear to us when he sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him.

My loved ones, if God had such love for us, it is right for us to have love for one another.

And his Spirit which he has given us is the witness that we are in him and he is in us.

Everyone who says openly that Jesus is the Son of God, has God in him and is in God.

In this way love is made complete in us, so that we may be without fear on the day of judging, because as he is, so are we in this world.

We have the power of loving, because he first had love for us.

And this is the word which we have from him, that he who has love for God is to have the same love for his brother.